


Take a Moment to Breathe

by Jadeleaf



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: Gen, Hobbies, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prompts Welcome, between scenes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27654554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadeleaf/pseuds/Jadeleaf
Summary: A moment away from work is an indulgence that Nobuchika Ginoza cannot always afford, but cherishes nonetheless.  Snippets of quiet moments from high school onwards.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	Take a Moment to Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> This was started by a prompt from badassunicornakahina on Tumblr that I decided to turn into a series. And when best to start it but Ginoza's birthday? I've got several ideas for scenes from when this is set through to season 3, but happy to receive extra prompts too!

Waning sunlight shone into the sparse dorm room, catching a pair of glasses placed on the nightstand. Ginoza sat with his legs crossed on the floor, hunched over his task. His face was set in a frown as he searched for blemishes on the metal surface. Finally, he held the tiny object up, so it glistened with the evening sun. Seeing nothing wrong, Ginoza gave the coin a final rub and placed it back in its case.

He had spent most of the day going through his collection, taking each coin out and carefully checking it over. The coins were pre-Sybil, but given the use of physical currency had died off in the middle of the twenty first century, Ginoza figured no one would mind his archaic hobby. Plus, it cleared his mind in a way no other activity seemed to. He picked up the next coin – an old French franc – and began the process again.

“I didn’t know you collected coins.”

Ginoza jolted. The franc slipped from his fingers and bounced along the floor. He lunged forward and slammed his hand over the coin before it could roll away from him. His precious item secured, Ginoza looked up at the intruder and glared.

“Normally one knocks when trying to get another’s attention, Kougami.”

A laugh slipped from Kougami’s lips as he leaned against the doorframe. Meanwhile, Ginoza brushed himself off and placed the coin back into his collection. He could resume once his intruder had left. Almost as an afterthought, Ginoza picked up his glasses from the table and cleaned them off before putting them back on his face. He shot Kougami one last glare just to make a point.

“I just didn’t think you were interested in anything pre-Sybil. You’ve disparaged my book collection enough times.”

“Because you insist on purchasing books you know you shouldn’t be reading,” Ginoza countered as he pushed himself to his feet.

“One might argue by collecting coins you’re revering the past too much.”

Ginoza rolled his eyes. “I’m not interested in getting into a philosophical debate with you, Kougami.”

“That’s a shame. I bet you’d be a good debater if you set your mind to it,” he said.

Kougami sounded surprisingly genuine in his disappointment. It was enough to throw Ginoza off-guard. His chest tightened. Kougami was the closest person he could call a friend. Shouldn’t Ginoza indulge him once in a while?

“Coins have little intrinsic value. There’s a reason the old Japanese government were allowed to mint coins but not print money.”

“What’s your most valuable coin worth?”

Ginoza paused, not because the question bothered him (although it probably would if he thought about it too much), but he was genuinely uncertain. He knew the monetary value of each coin, but if he was only able to save one or two from his collection, Ginoza was aware he wouldn’t pick the one with the highest monetary value.

With a sigh, Ginoza motioned towards the only chair in the room. Taking the invitation for what it was, Kougami stepped across the threshold. He carefully closed the door behind him, before pulling out the chair from under Ginoza’s desk and sitting down. Ginoza opened up his collection and picked out a small, shiny dime.

“My grandparents gave me this to start my collection when I was a child. It has little monetary value. American dimes are still fairly common even now.”

Kougami carefully held the dime in his palm, turning it over gently to look at the other side. Once he was done scrutinising it, he handed it back, not letting go until it was safely back in Ginoza’s hand. Ginoza appreciated the gesture.

“There are some very rich coin collectors, but they just want the rarest coins so they can brag about their collection.”

“Why do you collect them?”

Ginoza had never put a huge amount of thought into it, so instead he threw the question back. It was a fairly rudimentary stalling technique.

“Why do you collect books?”

Unsurprisingly, Kougami was quick to answer. He leaded back on the chair and rested his arms back on the desk behind him.

“It’s a window into another person’s thoughts. Plus, the old books lacked the censorship of today.”

“Depends on your definition of censorship,” Ginoza retorted. “There are plenty of examples of burned books, books allowed to fall into obscurity because the writer was not the right sort, others that never made it to print because an editor decided their words weren’t worth the paper.”

“True, but they were allowed greater levels of artistic freedom. When was the last time you read any material criticising the System?”

Ginoza snorted. The suggestion that anything would be written against Sybil was laughable. “Anyone who did would likely be flagged before they could place their fingers on the keyboard.”

“So is that censorship or self-censorship?”

“You speak as if censorship is always a bad thing. Sometimes it gives us a chance to listen to others.”

“I’d say the arguments are a little one-sided in our current society.”

“You just say that because you want more people to show off in front of.”

A grin spread across Kougami’s face. “It would be nice if people appreciated the thinkers of the past. I think you’d enjoy Russian literature.”

Ginoza gave his friend a look over the top of his glasses. “I’m certain there’s an insult buried in there.” He pushes the frames further up the bride of his nose. “You haven’t given a reason why you prefer physical books, though.”

Kougami’s grin spread even wider. He always seemed to enjoy it when Ginoza verbally sparred with him.

“I like the feel and the smell of the paper. It’s easy to feel the weight of the knowledge when there’s a book in your hand. Plus, I like to think about the people who read it before me. Folded corners of pages where they decided to take a break, a pen used to highlight or annotate… those are my favourite books.”

“Doesn’t that ruin the aesthetic of them?”

“It makes them feel alive.”

Ginoza looked out to his window just as the last of the sun dipped below the horizon. The room had become considerably darker since their conversation had begun. Despite the gloom, Ginoza didn’t make any motion to turn on the lights. A small part of him feared it would chase away his willingness to discuss the old world.

“Coins are unchanging,” Ginoza said after a moment. “Our civilisation relied on them for thousands of years before we figured out a better system. Plus, I enjoy looking after them,” he finished with a shrug.

Kougami watched him in the growing darkness, but said nothing. Maybe he didn’t want to push too far, or maybe he was disappointed by Ginoza’s answer. Either way, he soon stood up from his seat. Ginoza motioned the lights on.

“We should probably get to dinner before it’s too late.”

Ginoza thought about the bullies from earlier in the week and wondered if food was worth the fuss.

“Come on. They won’t try anything while I’m around.”

With a shake of his head Ginoza stood to follow. Before closing the door he spared one last look at his collection neatly sat on his bed.

**Author's Note:**

> I see Ginoza indulging Kougami's thoughts a lot more when they were younger, and secretly enjoying their discussions at times.


End file.
